The proposal is a housing-led mixed-use scheme with residential, commercial, Health & Community Centre and health club uses. The accommodation is supported by associated car parking and servicing. The buildings have been shaped to recover the lost urban edge and relate to the urban grain characteristic of this part of the City, while enclosing three different courtyard spaces.
The permeable façade to Mansell Street will be predominantly composed of flexible restaurants and retail space entered at ground level from each street. The retail spaces and restaurants situated in the corners of the buildings will enliven the area during the day and act as an anchor for the rest of the units, drawing in customers. The new pedestrian routes through the site will be used by local pedestrians as a shortcut, typical of the City’s lanes and alleyways. Routes are visually direct and shaped in such a way that users can easily navigate them.
To create façade distinction in between the buildings we studied several options dealing with the site characteristics, such as programme, relation with the surroundings and sunlight constraints. The façades of the buildings react differently according to the site street context, sensitively responding to the surroundings such as the how the blocks along Mansell Street respond to the busy Mansell Street or dealing with a listed building such as Ibex House in the opposite site of this scheme.